A campaign poster for Ashdod mayoral candidate Helen Gelber was vandalized on Tuesday, sparking outrage in the city and among politicians.
"A shocking and threatening act of defacement," Gerber wrote in a Facebook post alongside a photo of the poster, adding that she will file a complaint with the Israel Police.
"When I am elected mayor, I will fight against this. Ashdod will not become Bnei Brak."
Helen Gelber
Taking to social media, the mayoral candidate wrote "This isn't in Bnei Brak, it's here in Ashdod. A shocking and threatening act of defacement of my face on a campaign poster on Menachem Begin Road."
She continued: "There are those who have a hard time with the fact that we are strong... [and] that we're going to win. They fail to win over the support of the local residents. We interfere. It may also be difficult for them to see pictures of women in public spaces.
"When I am elected mayor, I will fight against this change in [the city's] character. Ashdod will not become Bnei Brak," Gelber continued. "And I promise that for every poster of mine that has been vandalized, we will hang five more. You won't scare us. We will fight this ugly phenomenon and keep it away from us – we don't have another Ashdod."
Vandalizing Images of women: A shocking phenomenon gaining momentum
"The shocking phenomenon of vandalizing campaign ads due to gender continues to gain momentum," Yisrael Beytenu MK Yulia Malinovsky said in response to the incident, comparing the vandalism of these pictures to the phenomenon seen in countries like Iran.
"In the previous Knesset, we made progress with my legislation to increase punishments for excluding women from public spaces and the bill already reached the second and third reading," she continued. "I will bring this bill up again to deter anyone from committing those same crimes."